Retail system for selling products based on a flexible product description

ABSTRACT

According to one described embodiment, a method is provided in which transaction information is determined. The transaction information is associated with (i) a buyer who has arranged to purchase a product from a central controller at a first price established between the buyer and the central controller and (ii) a merchant that offers the product for sale at a second price, different from the first price, without offering the product for sale to buyers at the first price. Information is transmitted that facilitates the acquisition of the product by the buyer, in exchange for payment provided by the buyer to the central controller. An amount based on the second price is provided to the merchant.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/619,579, Filed Sep. 14, 2012 entitled “Retail System For SellingProducts Based on A Flexible Product Description, ” which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/437,706, filed Apr.2, 2012 entitled Retail System For Selling Products Based On A FlexibleProduct Description, which a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/746,714, filed May 10, 2007 entitled “Retail System ForSelling Products Based On A Flexible Description,” which is a divisionalof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/540,035 filed Mar. 31, 2000entitled “Retail System For Selling Products Based On A FlexibleDescription” (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,711,604), which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/165,435, filedNov. 15, 1999 entitled “Uniseller Internet Pricing”.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/540,035 is also acontinuation-in-part for each of the following U.S. Patent Applications:

(i) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/889,503, filed Jul. 8, 1997 andissued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,772 on Jun. 19, 2001 entitled “Systems andMethods Wherein a Buyer Purchases a Product at a First Price andAcquires the Product from a Merchant that Offers the Product for Sale ata Second Price”;

(ii) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/997,170, filed Dec. 22, 1997and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,878 on Mar. 12, 2002 entitled“Conditional Purchase Offer Buyer Agency System”;

(iii) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/220,191, filed Dec. 23, 1998and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,386,508 on Jun. 10, 2008 entitled “Methodand Apparatus for Facilitating a Transaction Between a Buyer and OneSeller”;

(iv) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/337,906, filed Jun. 22, 1999and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,754,636 on Jun. 22, 2004 entitled“Purchasing Systems and Methods Wherein a Buyer Takes Possession at aRetailer of a Product Purchased Using a Communication Network”;

(v) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/359,265, filed Jul. 22, 1999entitled “System and Method for Facilitating and Managing the Sale ofCustomized Travel Product Restrictions”; and

(vi) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/388,723, filed Sep. 2, 1999 andnow abandoned entitled “Purchasing Systems and Methods Wherein a BuyerTakes Possession at a Retailer of a Product Purchased Using aCommunication Network”.

Each of the above-referenced applications, including U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/619,579, U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/437,706, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/746,714 (issued as U.S.Pat. No. 8,150,735), U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/540,035 (issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 7,711,604), U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/165,435, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/889,503 (issued as U.S.Pat. No. 6,249,772), U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/997,170 (issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 6,356,878), U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/220,191(issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,386,508), U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/337,906 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,754,636), U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/359,265, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/388,723, isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems for selling products tocustomers. More specifically, the present invention relates to a systemfor selling a product to a customer based on a flexible productdescription provided by the customer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

According to conventional retail pricing systems, a particular productis offered to all potential customers for a single price. Therefore, aconventional retailer endeavors to determine an “optimal” single pricefor a product that will generate more profit than any other singleprice.

Shortcomings exist even if a conventional retailer succeeds indetermining an “optimal” price. Specifically, profit generated by salesat an “optimal” price will likely be less than a theoretical maximumprofit, because some customers will be willing to pay more than the“optimal” price for the product. In this regard, the theoretical maximumprofit is a profit resulting from charging each customer a maximum pricehe is willing to pay. Profit may also fall short of the theoreticalmaximum because no profit will be obtained from potential customers whoare willing to pay more than the retailer's cost for the product but areunwilling to pay the “optimal” price. Due to these and othershortcomings, retailers have experimented with alternative pricingsystems intended to generate a profit closer to the theoretical maximum.

Individualized bargaining is one such alternative system. Inindividualized bargaining, a retailer or a retailer's agent individuallynegotiates with each potential customer in an attempt to extract ahighest price from each customer. However, associated transaction costsincurred by the retailer increase in proportion to the number oftransactions. Accordingly, individualized bargaining is not desirablefor retailers having more than a few customers, since the associatedtransaction costs would outweigh any resulting increase in profit fromsales.

In view of the foregoing, what is needed is a pricing system forincreasing a retailer's profit without incurring unacceptabletransaction costs.

Improvements are also needed in other types of conventional pricingsystems. For instance, conventional systems for discounting pricescreate several problems for retailers. According to these conventionalsystems, a retailer reduces a price of a product from an original priceto a lower, discounted price to achieve some goal, such as reducingexcess inventory of the product.

As described above with respect to retail pricing, some customers whobuy the product for the discounted price may have been willing to buythe product for a higher price, and the retailer therefore losespotential profit. Individualized bargaining, as also described above,can be used to reduce these effects. However, in a vast majority ofsituations, individualized bargaining involves unacceptable transactioncosts. Individualized bargaining also fails to address other problemscaused by conventional discount pricing systems, such as price dilutionand brand dilution.

Generally, price dilution describes a situation in which a reduction ofa product's price decreases demand for the product at a higher price. Inmore detail, discounting a price of a product causes potential customersto believe that the discounted price is the “correct” price of theproduct, and therefore the customers become unwilling to accept anyhigher price for the product. Accordingly, conventional discount pricingsystems can negatively affect future profits generated by a product.

Conventional discount pricing systems can also lead to brand dilution.Brand dilution refers to a reduction in the prestige of a brand in theminds of consumers. In this regard, conventional publicized pricediscounts for a product of a particular brand tend to reduce the amountof prestige that consumers attribute to the brand. Since brand prestige,or “goodwill”, is a valuable asset vigorously protected by successfulmanufacturers (e.g., via trademark protection), these manufacturers arereluctant to allow retailers to discount prices for their products or toadvertise the discounted prices. As a result, it is difficult forretailers to reduce excess inventory of these products.

Certain industries have attempted to address the foregoing deficienciesin conventional pricing systems. For example, the airline industryattempts to set prices for airline tickets based on speculated demand ofindividual customers. In this regard, each customer is categorized as aleisure traveler or a business traveler based on when a ticket ispurchased. For example, a customer who buys a ticket for a flight morethan twenty-one days before the flight is categorized as a leisuretraveler and a customer who buys a ticket less than twenty-one daysbefore the flight is categorized as a business traveler. Tickets for theflights are priced according to the categorization—lower prices forleisure travelers and higher prices for business travelers.

In view of the foregoing, two customers who submit identical itinerariesto a travel agent may pay vastly different prices for tickets toidentical flights, if the tickets are bought at different times. Such aresult is perceived as unfair by customers. Moreover, a businesstraveler who purchases a ticket to a flight more than twenty-one daysbefore a flight is categorized as a leisure traveler and therefore paysmuch less than she is willing to pay, resulting in lost revenue to theairline providing the flight. Accordingly, airline pricing fails toadequately address the deficiencies in conventional pricing systems.

Accordingly, what is also needed is a system for discounting priceswhich reduces price dilution and brand dilution, and which is perceivedas fair to customers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In consideration of the above needs, Applicants have discovered thatcustomer demand for a product can be approximately quantified based on acustomer's specification of desired product values. Applicants have alsodiscovered that retailers are willing to reduce prices in return forcustomer flexibility in sale terms. In addition, Applicants haveinvented a system to use these discoveries to efficiently chargedifferent prices to different customers in order to optimize profitswhile being fair to customers, and to discount prices while minimizinglosses, price dilution, brand dilution and perceived unfairness.

The present invention addresses the foregoing by providing, in oneaspect, a system in which a sale price is determined based on a productdescription, and the sale price is transmitted to a customer. Inaddition, no specific product is identified to the customer as aparticular product that will be sold to the customer before an agreementto purchase a product for the sale price is received from the customer.Accordingly, the customer is not guaranteed what specific product willbe purchased before an agreement to purchase a product for the saleprice is received from the customer.

It should be understood that the customer will agree to the purchase ifthe customer is willing to accept, in return for the sale price, anyproduct conforming to the product description. Both the customer andretailer benefit as a result of the foregoing system. The customer canreceive lower prices in exchange for flexible description parameters andmay also receive discounts that would normally not be advertised to thegeneral public for fear of price and brand dilution. The retailer isable to evaluate a customer's individual demand based on the receiveddescription and determine a sale price accordingly, thereby reducinglosses associated with the single-price systems described in thebackground. Although the inventive system may result in the sale of aproduct to two different customers for two different sale prices, thesystem is perceived as fair by both customers because a higher-payingcustomer likely agreed to a less flexible product description than alower-paying customer, and neither customer would have agreed to theother's product description and sale price. The product descriptionsreceived from customers also allow a retailer to determine whatcondition values are important to customers and to purchase and priceregular inventory accordingly.

In addition, the foregoing features allow a retailer to mask productdiscounts. For example, a retailer may wish to reduce inventory of aproduct by selling the product at a discounted price. To mask thediscount, the retailer chooses undesirable purchase terms under which tosell the product, such as pickup at a faraway location, even if theproduct is available at a closer location. As a result, the customerbelieves that the discount is attributable to the undesirable terms,rather than to the product quality or to decreased demand. Accordingly,price and brand dilution are minimized. In other embodiments, a productdescription is determined based on a sale price. According to some ofthese embodiments, a retailer receives a first sale price from a firstcustomer, determines a first product description based on the first saleprice, and transmits the first product description to the firstcustomer. Similarly, the retailer receives a second sale price from asecond customer which is lower than the first sale price, determines asecond product description based on the second sale price, and transmitsthe second product description to the second customer. If a productexists which conforms to both the first product description and thesecond product description, the retailer may sell the product to thefirst customer for the first sale price and to the second customer forthe second sale price. Even though the two customers pay different saleprices for the same product, the two customers will likely perceive thesystem as fair because each is agreeing to a different productdescription corresponding to their sale price. In this regard, theretailer may determine and transmit a broad product description based onthe lower second sale price to give the second customer an impressionthat the product was sold for the second sale price only because thesecond customer agreed to a broad product description. This lattermethod is intended to mask any discount reflected by the lower saleprice, thereby reducing perceived unfairness and allowing a retailer tosell a product at a discounted price while minimizing price and branddilution.

The present invention also addresses the problems discussed above byproviding, in one aspect, a system in which a product description isreceived and a product is selected, with a sale price of a particularselected product being a first sale price if the description is a firstdescription and being a second sale price if the description is a seconddescription.

The foregoing aspect provides a system by which a same product may besold to different customers for different prices. Such pricing may bedesirable if a product description received from one customer indicatesa greater demand for a particular product than a product descriptionreceived from another customer. It should be noted that, in contrast tothe airline pricing systems discussed in the background, a systemaccording to this aspect is perceived as fair because different productdescriptions are received from each customer, and because each customerwould likely not have been willing to purchase a product conforming tothe other customer's description for the other customer's sale price.

With these and other advantages and features of the invention that willbecome hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be moreclearly understood by reference to the following detailed description ofthe invention, the appended claims and to the several drawings attachedhereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a retail system in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the retail system controller of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the customer device of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate sample tables of the transaction database ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 5 illustrates a sample table of the customer database of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate sample tables of the flexibility database ofFIG. 2;

FIGS. 7 A to 7D illustrate sample tables of the product pricing databaseof FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 illustrates a sample table of the product description database ofFIG. 2;

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate sample tables of the retailer database ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 10 illustrates a sample table of the product database of FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 illustrates a sample table of the purchase terms database ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 12 illustrates a sample table of a redemption database according toone embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps of a salestransaction according to an embodiment in which a product description isreceived from a customer;

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps to determine a saleprice based on a product description according to one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps to determine a saleprice based on a product description according to one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps to select a productconforming to a product description according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps to process aproduct redemption according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps of a salestransaction according to an embodiment in which a sale price is receivedfrom a customer;

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps to determine aproduct description based on a sale price according to one embodiment ofthe invention; and

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps of a salestransaction according to an embodiment in which a product descriptionand a sale price are transmitted to a customer.

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram illustrating process steps of a transactionfor the sale of airline tickets according to one embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To ensure clarity of the following detailed description, set forth beloware definitions of terms used herein. The scope of the present inventionis not to be deemed limited by the definitions.

Condition: a category of values which are descriptive of a product (seedefinition below) and/or a transaction. Examples include Manufacturer,Features, and Pickup Location.

Condition value: a specific value corresponding to a condition. Usingthe above examples of conditions, corresponding condition values may be“Sony”, “27 in.”, and “New York”.

Conforming product: a specific product deemed to meet the requirementsof a product description or a sale price.

Customer: any person, group of people, or other entity that patronizes aretailer (see definition below) and who purchases products from theretailer.

Mutually-exclusive condition: a condition, such as Manufacturer, forwhich a conforming product possesses only one condition value. In orderfor a product to conform to a product description, the product mustinclude only one condition value for each mutually-exclusive conditionin the product description. Therefore, when mutually exclusive conditionvalues are added to a product description, a number of productsconforming to the product description usually increases.

Mutually-inclusive condition: a condition, such as Features, for which aconforming product may contain more than one condition value. In orderfor a product to conform to a product description, the product mustinclude each mutually-inclusive condition value in the productdescription. Therefore, when mutually-inclusive condition values areadded to a product description, a number of products conforming to theproduct description usually decreases.

Product: a specific good or service, usually identified by a make andmodel number. Identical products sold by a retailer may be assigned anidentical product identifier such as a Uniform Product Code (“UPC”) orStock Keeping Unit (“SKU”), while different products are usuallyassigned different product identifiers.

Product category: a classification of a product, or the general type ofproduct a customer desires. Examples include Standard Television, HomeComputer, and Airline Ticket.

Product description: a set of condition values that describes a product(see Product-specific condition) and may also describe a salestransaction (see Transaction-specific condition).

Product-specific condition: a condition relating to a product, e.g.Manufacturer, Features, etc. Contrast with Transaction-specificcondition, defined below.

Purchase terms: Sale-related terms which are accepted by a customer.Purchase terms may comprise a product description, a sale price, and aretailer's agreement to sell a product conforming to the productdescription for the sale price.

Redemption information: Information specifying a specific product to besold and information relating to the mechanics of a sales transaction,such as payment method, pickup location, and time of redemption.

Retailer: any person, group of persons, or entity that provides the saleof products to customers. Examples include a manufacturer, an onlinestore, a traditional “brick-and-mortar” store, a sales broker, and anonline “storefront” selling products offered by traditional stores,

Retailer data: data accessible by or on behalf of a retailer which canbe used to determine sale prices based on received product descriptions,product descriptions based on received sale prices, and/or whether toencourage sales of particular products. Retailer data may include salesdata, inventory data, demand data or subsidy data.

Sale Price: a price for which a product is sold to a customer. A saleprice according to the invention is often less than a retail price,which is a price for which a product is sold through conventionalchannels.

Transaction-specific condition: a condition relating to details of asales transaction, e.g. Pickup Location, Pickup Date, Payment Method,etc.

System

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a retail system in accordance with oneaspect of the present invention. As shown, a retail system 100 accordingto embodiments of the present invention includes a retail systemcontroller 200 that is in communication with customer devices 220, 230and 240 through a communication network 210. The communication network210 may be a Local Area Network or a Wide Area Network to which thecontroller 200 and the customer devices 220, 230 and 240 are connected.Other examples of networks usable in the present invention include asatellite-based network, a cellular network, an RF network, a telephonenetwork, a cable television network, a bulletin-board system, or anyother network for transferring data between locations. Also, even thoughthe communication network 210 is illustrated as an intermediary betweenthe retail system controller 200 and the customer devices 220, 230 and240, it should be noted that direct connections may also exist betweenthe controller 200 and the customer devices 220, 230 and 240.

In a case that communication network 210 is the World Wide Web (“Web”),the retail system controller 200 may include a Web server for receivingrequests for Web pages (documents on the Web that typically include anHTML file and associated graphics and script files), for generating Webpages, and for transmitting Web pages over the Web. The Web serverallows communication between the retail system controller 200 and theWeb (communication network 210) in a manner known in the art.

Each of the customer devices 220, 230 and 240 may comprise computers,such as those based on the Intel® Pentium® processor, that are adaptedto communicate with the controller 200 over the communication network210. Each of the customer devices 220, 230 and 240 may also comprise aportable computer, a dedicated terminal, an Internet kiosk, a PersonalDigital Assistant, a pager, a cellular phone, a pay phone, a video gameconsole, an Automated Teller Machine, a slot machine, a watch, a vendingmachine, or any other device capable of receiving and transmitting dataover the communication network 210. For example, in a case that thecommunication network 210 is the Web, each of the customer devices 220,230 and 240 may execute a Web browser application for requesting,receiving, and reviewing Web pages. Any number of customer devices maybe in communication with the communication network 210 and thecontroller 200.

Those skilled in the art will understand that devices in communicationwith each other need not be continually transmitting to each other. Onthe contrary, such devices need only transmit to each other asnecessary, and may actually refrain from exchanging data most of thetime. For example, a device in communication with another device via theWeb may not transmit data to the other device for weeks at a time.

Devices

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the controller 200. The controller200 may be implemented as a system controller, a dedicated hardwarecircuit, an appropriately programmed general purpose computer, or anyother equivalent electronic, mechanical or electro-mechanical device.

The controller 200 of FIG. 2 comprises a processor 250, such as one ormore Intel® Pentium® processors. The processor 250 is coupled to acommunication port 260 through which the controller 200 communicateswith other devices, such as the customer devices 220, 230 and 240,through communication network 210. The controller 200 may alsocommunicate with locally attached devices through the communication port260. Accordingly, the communication port 260 may be adapted tocommunicate using protocols supported by the communication network 210and the locally attached devices.

Also connected to the processor 250 are an input device 270 and adisplay 280. The input device 270 can be any device for inputting data,such as a keyboard, a touch screen, a mouse, a voice input device, aninfrared port, or the like. The input device 270 can be used by aretailer to enter data for use by the controller 200 in accordance withthe invention. Of course, data may also be input to the controller 200by a retailer using a device connected directly to the controller 200 orto the communication network 210. The display 280 is used to displaygraphics and text and may be a CRT computer monitor, a flat-paneldisplay or another display device.

The processor 250 is also in communication with a data storage device290. The data storage device 290 is generally a data memory and mayinclude any appropriate combination of magnetic, optical and/orsemiconductor memory. The data storage device 290 may also include, forexample, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), a compactdisc and/or a hard disk. Furthermore, the storage device 290 and theother elements of FIG. 2 may each be, for example: (i) located entirelywithin a single computer or other computing device; or (ii) connected toeach other by a remote communication medium, such as a serial portcable, telephone line or radio frequency transceiver. In one embodiment,the controller 200 comprises one or more computers that are connected toa remote server computer for maintaining databases.

The data storage device 290 stores a program 300 of processor-executableprocess steps for basic operation of the controller 200. The processor250 executes the process steps of the program 300 and thereby operatesin accordance with the present invention, and particularly in accordancewith the methods described in detail herein. The program 300 may bestored in a compressed, uncompiled and/or encrypted format. The processsteps of the program 300 can be stored in the storage device 290 duringmanufacture of the storage device 290, can be downloaded from a compactdisc or other computer-readable medium, or can be retrieved from aremote or local source via the communication port 260 in the form of asignal having the process steps encoded thereon.

The data storage device 290 also stores processor-executable processsteps for basic operation of the controller 200, such as the processsteps of an operating system, a database management system and “devicedrivers” for allowing the controller 200 to interface with computerperipheral devices. These latter process steps are known to thoseskilled in the art, and need not be described in detail herein.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the steps of theprogram 300 are transferred from the data storage device 290 into a mainmemory, such as a RAM, and executed therefrom by the processor 250. Inalternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of,or in combination with, processor-executable software process steps forimplementation of the processes of the present invention. Thus,embodiments of the present invention are not limited to any specificcombination of hardware and software. Moreover, steps performed inaccordance with the invention may be allocated between the controller200 and the customer devices 220, 230 and 240.

The storage device 290 also stores (i) an offer database 400, (ii) acustomer database 500; (iii) a flexibility database 600, (iv) a productpricing database 700, (v) a product description database 800, (vi) aretailer data database 900, (vii) a product database 1000, (viii) apurchase terms database 1100, and (ix) a redemption database 1200. Thedatabases 400 to 1200 are described in detail below and depicted withsample entries in the accompanying figures. In this regard, and as willbe understood by those skilled in the art, the schematic illustrationsand accompanying descriptions of the databases presented herein aremerely intended to demonstrate operable and preferred systems forassociating and storing information. A number of other data structuresmay be employed besides those suggested by the tables shown. Forexample, rather than using database tables as described herein, thepresent invention may be implemented using only rules-based methods or acombination of database tables and rules-based methods. Similarly, theillustrated entries of the databases represent sample information only;those skilled in the art will understand that the number and content ofthe entries can be different from those illustrated herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates several elements of the customer device 220 accordingto one embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the customerdevice 220 is used to input data and instructions to the retail systemcontroller 200, and to present data from the retail system controller200 to a customer. As shown, the customer device 220 includes aprocessor 221, such as an Intel® Pentium® processor or the like,connected to a communication port 222. The communication port 222transmits data to and receives data from external devices such as aprinter, scanner, or the like, and therefore supports communicationprotocols used by the external devices. Also connected to the processor221 is an input device 223 for receiving data from a customer and adisplay 224 for presenting data to the customer. The input device 223and the display 224 can be any of the input devices or displaysdiscussed above.

A storage device 225 is connected to the processor 221, and stores dataand processor-executable process steps for the operation of the customerdevice 220. For example, the storage device 225 stores data and processsteps of an operating system 226 which controls the operation of thecustomer device 220. Also stored in the storage device 225 areprocessor-executable process steps of a Web browser 227, which can beexecuted by the processor 221 to provide communication between acustomer device 220 and the retail system controller 200 through theWeb. Of course, depending on the nature of the connections between thecustomer device 220, the communication network 210, and the controller200, other known applications or hardware may be needed for the customerdevice 220 to communicate with the retail system controller 200.

Databases

Offer Database

FIG. 4A illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of the offerdatabase 400 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Theoffer database 400 stores data relating to offers submitted by customersto the retail system controller 200. The tabular representation includesa number of sample records each including details of an offer consistingof a customer-input product description. Those skilled in the art willunderstand that the database 400 may include any number of records. Inthe tabular representation shown, the database 400 includes fieldsassociated with each of the records. The fields specify: (i) an offeridentifier 402 that uniquely identifies a particular record; (ii) acustomer identifier 404 that uniquely identifies the customer from whoma product description contained in the record was received; (iii) aManufacturer 406 (if any) specified in the received product description;(iv) Features 408 (if any) specified in the received productdescription; (v) Pickup Locations 410 (if any) specified in the received

product description; (vi) Product States (if any) 412 specified in thereceived product description; and (vii) an offer status 414 of an offerrepresented by the record. Usage of the data stored in the offerdatabase 400 will be discussed in detail below.

FIG. 4B illustrates a tabular representation of the offer database 400according to another embodiment of the present invention. In thisembodiment, a customer initiates a transaction by submitting a saleprice and is thereafter presented with a product description based onthe sale price. The tabular representation includes several records,each of which represents a single offer and contains several fields.Specifically, each record contains the offer identifier 402, thecustomer identifier 404, and the status 414 as described above, as wellas an offered price 416. The offered price 416 associated with aparticular record is the sale price submitted by the customer toinitiate the offer represented by the record. Operation of theembodiment reflected in FIG. 4B is described below in conjunction withFIGS. 18 and 19.

Customer Database

FIG. 5 illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of the customerdatabase 500 stored in the storage device 290. The tabularrepresentation includes a number of sample records and fields for eachof the records. The fields specify: (i) a customer identifier 502; (ii)a customer name 504; customer contact information 506; and (iv) apayment identifier 508.

For each record in the customer database 500, the customer identifier502 identifies a customer to whom data in the record correspond. In oneembodiment, the customer identifier 502 serves as a link between thedata in the databases used in the invention. For example, a customeridentifier 404 in the offer database 400 identifies a same customer asan identical customer identifier 502 in the customer database 500.

The first name and last name of a customer are stored as the customername 504, and contact information provided by the customer is stored ascustomer contact information 506. The contact information may includeone or more of a street address, an e-mail address, a telephone number,a facsimile number, a pager number, or any other information using whicha customer can be contacted.

The payment identifier 508 of a record includes information that can beused to charge a sale price to and/or extract payment from a customer.The tabular representation shown in FIG. 5 includes credit card numbersas example payment identifiers 508. In a case that a payment identifier508 is used only to charge a sale price to a customer, the paymentidentifier 508 need not be maintained after the sale price has beencharged. Accordingly, for security reasons, it may be desirable todelete the payment identifier 508 from the customer database 500 after asale price has been charged to the customer and to substitute a paymentidentifier 508 such as “PAID”.

Flexibility Database

FIG. 6A illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of theflexibility database 600 according to an embodiment in which aflexibility score is determined based on a product description and asale price is determined based on the flexibility score. Specificdetails of the operation of this embodiment will be described in detailbelow.

The flexibility database 600 as shown in FIG. 6A includes data groupedaccording to a particular product category. For each product category,conditions 610 and corresponding flexibility points 620 are stored.Generally, and as will be described below, the flexibility database 600is used to determine a flexibility score based on condition values in aproduct description. For example, using the tabular representation ofFIG. 6A, each Manufacturer value specified in a product description addsten points to a flexibility score. The points are added because eachadditional Manufacturer value in a product description may increase anumber of conforming products that can be selected by a retailer, andtherefore may increase a retailer's flexibility in selecting a productto sell. On the other hand, each Feature value in a product descriptionreduces a flexibility score by five points, since each Feature valueadded to a product description likely reduces a number of conformingproducts. More generally, positive flexibility points 620 are associatedwith mutually-exclusive conditions 610 and negative flexibility points620 are associated with mutually-inclusive conditions 610. It should benoted that the flexibility database 600 may include additionalconditions 610 and corresponding flexibility points 620, as well asconditions 610 and corresponding flexibility points 620 for additionalproduct categories.

FIG. 6B illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of theflexibility database 600 according to another embodiment of theinvention. In this embodiment, a condition value 630 for a productcategory is associated with a number of flexibility points 640 and aweighting factor 650. A weighting factor 650 determines an effect thatan associated condition value 630 has on a determined sale price, Usageof weighting factors 650 will be described below with respect to FIG.14.

As described with respect to FIG. 6A, the data shown in FIG. 6B are usedto determine a flexibility score of a product description, which in turnis used to determine a sale price. As also described, the flexibilitydatabase 600 of FIG. 6B may include additional condition values 620,flexibility points 640, and weighting factors 650 for the Standard TVproduct category and for additional product categories.

Product Pricing Database

Shown in FIG. 7 A is a tabular representation of a portion of theproduct pricing database 700 according to one embodiment of theinvention. As shown, the tabular representation includes several rangesof flexibility scores 710 and corresponding sale prices 720 for aparticular product category. Since the ranges of flexibility scores 710and corresponding sale prices 720 will likely vary across productcategories, a portion of the product pricing database 700 such as thatillustrated in FIG. 7 A exists for each product category defined by aretailer,

The product pricing database 700 according to this embodiment is used todetermine a sale price based on a product description flexibility score.For example, after reception of a product description from a customer, aflexibility score is determined using a flexibility database 600 such asthat described with respect to FIGS. 6A and 6B. Next, a score range 710including the determined flexibility score is located in a portion ofthe product pricing database 700 corresponding to an appropriatecategory, and a sale price 720 corresponding to the located score range710 is determined to be the sale price. A detailed description of thisprocess is set forth below.

FIG. 7B illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of the productpricing database 700 according to another embodiment of the invention.In contrast to the product pricing database 700 as represented in FIG. 7A, the FIG. 7B representation includes percentage discount data 730corresponding to each flexibility score range 710. F or a givenflexibility score of a product description, corresponding percentagediscount data 730 is determined using the product pricing database 700of FIG. 7B and is applied to a specified price in order to determine asale price. Specifics of this embodiment are also described below. Itshould be noted that the product pricing database 700 of FIG. 7B mayinclude data for additional product categories.

A representation of a portion of the product pricing database 700according to another embodiment is shown in FIG. 7C. The FIG. 7Crepresentation includes, for a particular product, sale prices 740corresponding to various ranges of flexibility scores 710. Of course,the product pricing database 700 of FIG. 7C may include data for otherproducts. Usage of the product pricing database 700 according to FIG. 7Cis described below. Generally, a conforming product is selected based ona received product description, a flexibility score corresponding to theproduct description is calculated, and data of the product pricingdatabase 700 of FIG. 7C which corresponds to the selected product isused to determine a sale price. Accordingly, in contrast to theembodiments reflected in FIGS. 7 A and 7B, products of a same productcategory may be priced differently in response to a single productdescription.

FIG. 7D illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of the productpricing database 700 according to yet another embodiment. According tothis embodiment, which is described in detail below, a productdescription is evaluated based on predefined requirements to determine apercentage discount. The percentage discount is then used to determine asale price.

The tabular representation shown in FIG. 7D includes data for a specificproduct category. A set of related condition 750, requirement 760, andpercentage discount data 770 is stored for the specific category.Generally, each condition 750 is associated with any number ofrequirements 760, with each requirement corresponding to a percentagediscount 770. For example, according to the first record in theillustrated table, a 0% discount corresponds to a product descriptionincluding only one Manufacturer value. Of course, the product pricingdatabase 700 as shown in FIG. 7D includes additional data for theStandard TV product category and data for other product categories.

Although the FIGS. 7 A to 7D databases associated a greater flexibilitywith a higher flexibility score, it should be noted that a greaterflexibility may be represented by 5 a lower flexibility score. Ofcourse, the discounts and/or prices associated with flexibility scoresin the illustrated databases would be altered accordingly.

Product Description Database

FIG. 8 shows a tabular representation of a portion of the productdescription database 800 according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. The product description database 800 is used in embodimentsin which a customer inputs a sale price and is presented with acorresponding product description. The product description database 800may include additional data to that shown in FIG. 8 and data foradditional product categories.

The tabular representation includes, for a product category, severalranges of product discounts 810 and description broadening rules 820corresponding to each range. In one contemplated use, an input saleprice is compared to an average retail price of an input productcategory in order to calculate a percentage discount reflected by theinput sale price. Description broadening rules 820 corresponding to thepercentage discount are identified and used to create a productdescription. For example, using the data shown in FIG. 8, if thereceived sale price reflects a fifteen percent discount off the averageretail price, a product description is created specifying twomanufacturers, two guaranteed features and two pickup locations.Advantages, variations and further details of the above process will beset forth in the following discussion.

The product description database 800 may also be used to determine asale price based on a received product description. In this regard, arule 820 most closely fitting an input product description isidentified, and a discount 810 associated with the identified rule isapplied to a specified price to determine a sale price corresponding tothe product description.

Retailer Data Database

FIG. 9A illustrates a tabular representation of a portion of theretailer data database 900 according to one embodiment of the invention.The illustrated portion stores information concerning products within asingle product category. The tabular representation includes severalrecords, each comprising several fields. The fields specify: (i) amanufacturer 902; (ii) current inventory 904; (iii) forecasted currentinventory 906; and (iv) a current/forecasted inventory ratio 908.

The manufacturer 902 of a record indicates a product manufacturer, thecurrent inventory 904 represents a number of products in currentinventory produced by the manufacturer, and the forecasted currentinventory 906 represents a forecasted current amount of inventoryproduced by the manufacturer. The current/forecasted ratio 908 for aparticular record reflects the current inventory 904 of the recorddivided by the forecasted inventory 906, and is used in one embodiment,described in detail below, to determine weighting factors 650 of theflexibility database 600 as represented in FIG. 6B. It should be notedthat additional retailer data for the Standard TV product category andfor other product categories can be included in the retailer database900.

Another tabular representation of a portion of the retailer datadatabase 900 is illustrated in FIG. 9B. The data within the tabularrepresentation are similar to that shown in FIG. 9A, except that insteadof each record being directed to a particular manufacturer 902, eachrecord is directed to a particular product identified by a productidentifier 910. In an embodiment to be described below,current/forecasted ratios 908 of FIG. 9B are used to determine which oftwo conforming products should be selected by the retail systemcontroller 200 to fill a customer-accepted offer. Of course, data foradditional products may be contained in the retailer database 900 ofFIG. 9B.

Product Database

A portion of the product database 1000 is represented in a tabular formin FIG. 10. Each record in the tabular representation represents oneproduct, and comprises: (i) a product identifier 1002; (ii) amanufacturer 1004; (iii) features 1006; (iv) pickup locations 1008; (v)product states 1010; (vi) a minimum acceptable price 1012; and (vii) aretail price 1014.

For each record, the product identifier 1002 identifies a particularproduct available from a retailer. In one embodiment, the productidentifier 1002 for a product is identical to a product identifier 910used in the retailer data database 900 to identify the same product. Themanufacturer 1004 identifies the manufacturer of the particular product,the features 1006 identify the features of the particular product, thepickup locations 1008 identify locations at which the product isavailable, and the product states 1010 identify physical states, such asnew or used, in which the particular product is available. The minimumacceptable price 1012 indicates a minimum price at which the retailsystem controller 200 is permitted to sell the product, and the retailprice 1014 specifies the price of the product when sold throughconventional channels. Other types of data, as well as data for productsother than those shown, may be included in the product database 1000.

Purchase Terms Database

FIG. 11 shows a tabular representation of the purchase terms database1100 according to one embodiment of the invention. The data shown inFIG. 11 are sample data, and are not intended to reflect a completedatabase 1100. The tabular representation comprises several records,each of which includes (i) a purchase terms identifier 1102; (ii) anoffer identifier 1104; and (iii) generated purchase terms 1106. Thepurchase terms identifier 1102 identifies a particular record in thedatabase 1100. In other embodiments, the purchase terms database 1100also includes a product identifier identifying a product to be sold tothe customer. The offer identifier 1104 identifies a particular offerinitiated by a customer-input product description or price, and can beused to reference related data associated with an identical offeridentifier 402 from the offer database 400,

The generated purchase terms 1106 include terms generated by the retailsystem controller 200 and accepted by the customer. For example, in acase that a transaction was initiated by customer input of a productdescription, the generated purchase terms 1106 would include acorresponding sale price generated by the controller 200. On the otherhand, if the transaction was initiated by customer input of a saleprice, the generated purchase terms 1106 would include a generatedproduct description.

Redemption Database

FIG. 12 illustrates a portion of a tabular representation of theredemption database 1200. The redemption database 1200 includes severalrecords containing associated fields. The fields specify: (i) aredemption identifier 1202; (ii) a purchase terms identifier 1204; (iii)a product identifier 1206; (iv) redemption information 1208; and (v) aredemption status 1210. Upon receiving a redemption identifier from acustomer, the controller 200 locates an identical redemption identifier1202 in the database 1200. A purchase terms identifier 1204 associatedwith the redemption identifier 1202 is then used to retrieve associateddata from the purchase terms database 1100 needed to validate andprocess a redemption of the product identified by the product identifier1206. The redemption information 1208 specifies details of a redemptionsuch as transaction-specific condition values under which a redemptionmust take place, and the redemption status 1210 indicates a status ofthe redemption identified by the record.

Processes

I. Retailer Determines a Sale Price Based on a Product Description

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow diagram 1300 of process steps for anembodiment of the present invention in which a customer inputs a productdescription and receives a sale price in response. In an embodimentwhere the controller 200 performs the process steps of FIG. 13, theprocess steps may be embodied in hardware within the controller 200, inprocessor-executable process steps stored on a computer-readable mediumsuch as the storage device 290 and executed by the processor 250, inprocessor-executable process steps encoded in an electronic signalreceived by the controller 200 and executed by the processor 250, or inany combination thereof. It should be noted that each other flow diagramof process steps described herein may be similarly embodied. Inaddition, the particular arrangement of elements in the flow diagram1300, as well as the other flow diagrams discussed herein, is not meantto imply a necessary order to the steps; embodiments of the presentinvention can be practiced in many different orders.

The FIG. 13 process steps begin at step 1302, in which a productdescription is received from a customer. In one embodiment, a productcategory is also received with the product description. The productdescription is a set of condition values describing a desired product.For example, the product description “Sony”, “Magnavox”, “Toshiba”,“Picture-in-Picture”, and “‘New’”, describes both a new twenty-seveninch Magnavox television with picture-in-picture as well as a newthirty-five inch Sony television with picture-in-picture, digital combfilter, V-chip, and surround sound features. It should be noted that aproduct description may also include limiting condition values, such as“27 in. to 35 in.”.

In one embodiment, a customer inputs the product description prior tostep 1302. For example, a customer using the customer device 220 selectsthe product category Standard Television and inputs the productdescription “Sony”, “Magnavox”, “Toshiba”, “Picture-in-Picture”, and“New” using the input device 223 and the display 224. In this regard,the interface provided by the customer device 220 for input of theproduct description may present retailer-defined conditions for whichvalues are selected by the customer using well-known graphical userinterface elements such as pull-down menus, check boxes, or radiobuttons. Text-entry boxes may also be provided for customer entry ofcondition values. The product description may be input in any number ofother ways depending on the nature of the customer device 220, such asby using voice recognition or character recognition, or from acomputer-readable medium storing a product description. In anotherembodiment, the customer device 220 presents the customer with severalproduct descriptions, and the customer inputs a product descriptionprior to step 1302 by selecting one of the presented productdescriptions. It should be noted that the customer device 220 used toinput the product description may be located within a store operated bya retailer.

Returning to step 1302, the condition values of the received productdescription are stored in appropriate fields of the offer database 400along with an offer identifier 402 generated to identify the presentoffer and a customer identifier 404 that identifies the customer. Alsostored in association with the product description is a status 414 of“Pending System”.

In step 1304, a sale price is determined based on the received productdescription. Several systems for determining the sale price arediscussed below with respect to FIG. 14 and FIG. 15; these systemsprimarily use data stored in the flexibility database 600, the productpricing database 700, and the retailer data database 900. After the saleprice is determined, the sale price is transmitted to the customer instep 1306. Accordingly, the associated status 414 is updated to “PendingCustomer” to reflect that the system is awaiting acceptance or rejectionof the sale price.

In one embodiment, the sale price is transmitted from the retail systemcontroller 200 over the communication network 210 and back to thecustomer device 220 from which the product description was received instep 1302. After reception of the sale price, the customer device 220displays the sale price to the customer using the display 224. Ofcourse, in a case that the customer device 220 does not have a display224, the sale price is communicated to the customer in some othermanner, such as through a speaker or a printout. The sale price may alsobe transmitted to the customer in step 1306 using other known methods.

In another embodiment, the sale price transmitted in step 1306 isspecified in terms of a discount amount, such as “25% off the retailprice of the selected product”, or “$50 off the retail price of theselected product”.

Transmitted along with the sale price are other purchase terms whichfacilitate formation of a binding agreement between the customer and theretailer. The other purchase terms include, in one embodiment, thereceived product description and an offer from the retailer to sell aproduct conforming to the product description for the sale price.However, the controller 200 does not transmit, in step 1306, and beforean agreement to purchase a product for the sale price is received, anyinformation to the customer identifying a particular product to be soldto the customer upon completion of the transaction. The customer is alsonot guaranteed, before an agreement to purchase a product for the saleprice is received, what specific product will be purchased. By avoidingtransmission of this information, a retailer is provided withflexibility in selecting a product to sell after the customer is boundto the agreement. However, in another embodiment, specific details oftwo or more particular products are transmitted to the customer in step1306 along with an indication that an unspecified one of the particularproducts will be sold to the customer upon receiving an agreement fromthe customer. This embodiment also provides the retailer with someflexibility in selecting a product to sell after the customer is bound.

It should be noted that a particular product conforming to the productdescription mayor may not be selected prior to step 1306.

After step 1306, it is determined in step 1308 whether or not thecustomer agrees to the sale price. In one embodiment, the customer isrequired to select an “I Agree” symbol displayed on the display 224 andthe selection is transmitted to the retail system controller 200 via thecommunication network 210. Of course, other known systems forcommunicating an agreement can be used in step 1308. The customer mayalso be required to provide customer and payment information, such as acredit card number, so that the retailer is ensured of payment. Thecustomer and payment information are stored in the customer database 500along with an associated customer identifier 502. In other embodiments,the customer and payment information are received with the productdescription in step 1302, and a credit check/pre-authorization for thesale price is performed prior to transmission of the sale price in step1306.

If it is determined in step 1308 that the customer does not agree to thesale price, the process steps of FIG. 13 terminate. In some embodiments,the customer can edit the product description rather than agree to thesale price, or the retail system controller 200 can suggest changes tothe product description that would reduce the sale price. Once it isdetermined that the customer agrees to the sale price, flow continues tostep 1310,

In step 1310, a product is selected that conforms to the productdescription. One system for such selection is described below inconjunction with FIG. 16. After the conforming product is selected instep 1310, redemption information is transmitted to the customer in step1312. In one embodiment, the redemption information includes specificdetails identifying the selected product and selectedtransaction-specific details such as pickup location and redemptiontime. The transaction-specific details may be selected so as to mask adiscount reflected in the sale price, as will be described in detailwith reference to FIG. 16, In another embodiment, the customer is notpresented with information identifying the selected product until theproduct is redeemed. In this regard, the product may not even beselected until the customer attempts to redeem the product. The latterarrangement provides retailers with significant flexibility in choosinga product to sell and retailers may therefore significantly discountproducts redeemed in this manner.

The redemption information may be transmitted via the communicationnetwork 210 used to receive the product description or by anothercommunication network. In a case that the product will be picked up bythe customer at a retail location, also transmitted in step 1312 is aredemption identifier embodied in a paper voucher, a personalidentification code, a frequent shopper card, or other record ofpurchase details. Similarly to step 1205, step 1312 may also beperformed once a customer arrives at a retail location to pick up aproduct.

A product redemption is processed in step 1314. In one embodiment, aproduct redemption involves receiving a redemption identifier from acustomer and presenting the customer with a corresponding productidentified in the redemption database 1200. The retailer presented withthe redemption identifier need not be in communication with the retailsystem controller 200. In this regard, the presented redemptionidentifier may represent, perhaps in encoded form, all the informationneeded for the redemption, such as the information shown in theredemption database 1200. In addition, there may be no need to process aproduct redemption in a case that the selected product is shipped to thecustomer. Details of product redemption will be discussed with respectto FIG. 17.

It should be noted that the foregoing process steps do not describe eachembodiment of the invention. For example, a conforming product may beselected any time after a product description is received. In anotherembodiment, a customer is presented with suggestions to change a productdescription after the product description is received, in a case that noconforming product is available or for other reasons. Moreover, a saleprice and alternative product descriptions may be transmitted in step1306. The alternative product descriptions may be similar to thereceived product description but with different condition values. Inthis embodiment, it would be determined in step 1308 whether thecustomer agreed to the sale price and to what product description thecustomer agreed.

The customer and the retailer benefit as a result of the FIG. 13 processsteps. Specifically, the customer can receive lower prices by providingflexible description parameters and may receive discounts that would notbe given to the general public for fear of price and brand dilution. Theretailer is able to evaluate a customer's individual demand based on thereceived description and determine a sale price accordingly, therebyreducing losses associated with conventional retail pricing systems. Inembodiments where the retailer does not select the product to sell untilwell after the customer agreement, the retailer further benefits bybeing able to optimize the ordering of inventory based on outstandingoffers. Although the process steps may result in a single product beingsold for different sale prices, the system is perceived as fair becausea higher-paying customer likely agreed to a different productdescription than a lower-paying customer, and neither would have agreedto the other's product description and sale price. The productdescriptions received from customers also allow a retailer to determinewhat features are important to customers and to purchase and priceinventory accordingly.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow diagram 1400 of process steps that may beused in step 1304 of FIG. 13 to determine a sale price based on areceived product description. The process steps begin at step 1402, inwhich a number of flexibility points is determined for each conditionvalue in the received product description. The number of flexibilitypoints is determined using the flexibility database 600 as representedin FIG. 6A. In operation, a condition value in the description isdetermined to correspond to a number of flexibility points 620associated with the corresponding condition in the flexibility database600. Next, in step 1404, the flexibility points corresponding to eachcondition value are summed to determine a flexibility score.

As an example of steps 1402 and 1404, a case is considered in which aflexibility score is determined for the product description “Sony”,“Magnavox”, “Toshiba”, “V-chip”, “stereo sound”, and“Picture-in-Picture”. According to the database 600 as represented inFIG. 6A, the condition values “Sony”, “Magnavox” and “Toshiba” aredetermined to correspond to +10 flexibility points each, and theremaining feature values are determined to correspond to −5 flexibilitypoints each. Accordingly, the flexibility score corresponding to theproduct description is fifteen (10+10+10−5−5−5=15).

According to another embodiment, steps 1402 and 1404 are performed usingdata shown in the flexibility database 600 of FIG. 6B. Flexibilityscores are determined using the flexibility database 600 of FIG. 6B bymultiplying, for each condition value 630, a corresponding number offlexibility points 640 with a corresponding weighting factor 650. Usingthe previous product description, the condition values “Sony”,“Magnavox”, “Toshiba”, “V-chip”, “stereo sound”, and“Picture-in-Picture” would correspond to flexibility points (+10×5)=+50,(+10×0.5)=+5, (+10×1)=+10, (−5×1)=−5, (−5×4)=−20 and (−5×3)=−15,respectively. Accordingly, a flexibility score of 50+5+10−5−20−15=25would be determined in step 1302.

As described above, a weighting factor 650 of the flexibility database600 may reflect the desirability of a corresponding condition value inview of retailer data. For example, if a ratio 908 of current inventory904 of a manufacturer 902 to forecasted inventory 906 of themanufacturer 902 in the retailer database 900 is 5, the retailer maywish to price the manufacturer's products so as to increase salesthereof. Accordingly, the retailer would like to associate a highflexibility score with received product descriptions including thedesired manufacturer as a condition value. Therefore, a correspondingweighting factor 650 in the flexibility database 600 of FIG. 6B is setto 5. On the other hand, a current/forecasted ratio 908 of 0.5 indicatesthat a second manufacturer's products are selling better than expected.Since the retailer would likely prefer to continue selling theseproducts without a discount, inclusion of the second manufacturer in aproduct description does not significantly increase the flexibilityavailable to the retailer in selecting a product to sell. As a result,the weighting corresponding to the second manufacturer is set to 0.5 inthe database 600 of FIG. 6B.

The embodiment of the flexibility database 600 illustrated in FIG. 6Bthereby allows retailer data such as inventory, sales, demand andsubsidies to be used in creating a flexibility score which moreaccurately reflects a flexibility and a desirability of a particulardescription. For example, manufacturers of certain products may offersubsidies to a retailer to promote sales of the products. Therefore,condition values 630 representing the subsidized products are associatedwith relatively large weighting factors 650 so that a productdescription to which a subsidized product conforms will likely produce ahigh flexibility score.

In one embodiment, weighting factors 650 are generated for eachcondition value in each product category, either manually or usingratios as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. It should also be noted that otherretailer data can be used in determining weighting factors 650corresponding to particular condition values. such as current sales v.forecasted sales, current sales lower than current demand, and currentinventory higher than historical inventory. Moreover, the weightingfactors 650 can be updated periodically or in “real time” by triggeringoff of changes made to the retailer data.

Returning to the flow diagram 1400, a sale price is determined in step1406 based on the flexibility score by using the product pricingdatabase 700. In the embodiment of the database 700 represented in FIG.7 A, the previously-determined flexibility score of 25 corresponds to asale price of $250, The corresponding sale prices 720 shown in FIG. 7 Acan be derived in many ways. The prices 720 may be based on a range ofpreviously-offered discount prices of products within the productcategory, on a range of percentage discounts off an average retail priceof products in the category, on incremental price steps between thelowest and highest retail prices in the product category, or on anyother data. It should be noted that the sale prices 720 in the productpricing database 700 are not necessarily related to a product which willbe eventually sold to the customer.

Using the FIG. 7B embodiment of the database 700, the flexibility scoreof 25 corresponds to a 20% discount, and the sale price is determined instep 1406 by applying the percentage discount 730 to a retail pricecorresponding to the product category. The retail price to which thediscount 730 is applied may be a retail price of a product alreadyselected for sale to the customer, a retail price of another conformingproduct, an average retail price of conforming products, or anotherprice. Again, the retail price is not necessarily related to the productwhich will be eventually sold to the customer.

In a case that a conforming product for sale is selected prior todetermination of a sale price, data shown in FIG. 7C are used todetermine the sale price in step 1406. As shown, the data associate aflexibility score 710 with a sale price 740 for a particular product.For example, in a case that product P-1000 was selected and aflexibility score of 25 was determined prior to step 1406, a sale priceof $250 is determined using the data of FIG. 7C.

It should be noted that the databases 600, 700 as shown in FIG. 6A toFIG. 7B may be organized by specific product rather than by productcategory. In this case, a product is selected prior to step 1304 andentries of the databases 600, 700 corresponding to the selected productare used as described above to determine the sale price in step 1406.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow diagram 1500 of process steps to determine asale price based on a product description (step 1304) according toanother embodiment of the invention. The process begins at step 1502, inwhich the retail system controller 200 determines a number of conditionvalues specified in the product description for each condition. Next, instep 1504, a discount is determined for each condition using the productpricing database 700 as illustrated in FIG. 7D. Specifically, for eachcondition 750, an appropriate requirement 760 is identified and apercentage discount 770 associated with the requirement is determined.For example, in a case that a product description includes threemanufacturer values and two features, percentage discounts of 10% and 5%are determined in step 1504.

In step 1506, a cumulative discount corresponding to the productdescription is calculated by summing the determined percentagediscounts. In the previous example, the cumulative discount is 15%.Next, in step 1508, the sale price is determined by discounting aparticular retail price by the cumulative discount. The particularretail price may be a retail price of a specific conforming product, anaverage retail price of the subject product category, or any otherprice.

It should be noted that the percentage discounts 770 stored in theproduct pricing database 700 of FIG. 7D may be condition value-specificas described with respect to FIG. 6B. In this case, the requirements 770would include particular condition values, and discounts, eitherweighted or unweighted, would be associated with each value. As alsodescribed with respect to FIGS. 6A to 7B, the product pricing database700 of FIG. 7D may be organized by specific product rather than byproduct category. In this case, a product is selected prior to step 1304and entries of the database 700 corresponding to the selected productare used as described above to determine the sale price in step 1508.

In another embodiment of step 1304, the retail system controller 200stores product descriptions and associated sale prices. Accordingly, inthis embodiment, a stored product description most similar to thereceived product description is identified and a sale price isdetermined to be equal to a sale price associated with the storedproduct description. Still other methods for determining a sale pricebased on a product description will be apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art.

FIG. 16 illustrates a detailed flow diagram 1600 of process steps toselect a product that conforms to a product description according tostep 1310 of FIG. 13. Initially, at step 1602, the product database 1000is searched to identify products that conform to the product descriptionreceived in step 1302. When searching the database 1000, it is notnecessary to consider products having a minimum acceptable price 1012greater than the sale price determined in step 1304.

In step 1604, a product to sell is selected from the identifiedconforming products. In one embodiment, transaction-specific conditionvalues conforming to the product description are also selected in step1604. The selection of a product and of condition values can be based onmany different factors. For example, a product may be selected thatoptimizes profit, inventory, sales, demand, subsidies. or any othervariable. In this regard, a product having excess inventory may beselected for sale even though the determined sale price reflects asubstantial discount off the retail price.

A retailer may be more likely to sell a product at a discount in a casethat the received product description includes an undesirabletransaction-specific condition value, such as pickup at an inconvenientlocation, because the undesirable value can be used to mask thediscount. In other words, although the product may be available at amore convenient location, the retailer can select to sell the product atthe inconvenient location specified in the product description. Thecustomer will therefore tend to feel like the discount was earned, andother customers paying more for the product but picking up the productat a convenient location will feel fairly treated. Moreover, price andbrand dilution can be minimized because the discount will be attributedto the details of the transaction rather than to the product.

Many other transaction-specific conditions can be used to justify and/ormask a product discount, such as Time of Redemption and Product State.The Time of Redemption condition specifies a time period during whichthe customer is willing to wait before redeeming the product. In a casethat a customer has specified a Time of Redemption value such as threemonths, the retail system controller 200 can use the customer'swillingness to wait for the product as an apparent reason for offering alarge price discount. Moreover, the retailer may be willing to discounta price of a product in exchange for future demand guaranteed by thethree month condition value, because the retailer will be able toreorder inventory tailored to the future demand or to select aparticular product in step 1310 that hasn't sold well throughconventional channels.

The Product State condition may have values such as “new”, “used”,“refurbished”, “demo”, or the like. These values are useful because aretailer may want to discount a non-new product to dispose of productsthat aren't selling and that cannot be returned to the manufacturer. Thenon-new condition values may also be used to justify a discount in anattempt to minimize price dilution, brand dilution, and perceivedunfairness.

A retailer may have other reasons for selecting a particular product andparticular transaction-specific condition values. For example, if a newor remote pickup location is specified in a product description alongwith other locations, a retailer may choose to select a product to bepicked up at the specified location simply to increase customer trafficat the new or remote location.

In step 1606, the purchase terms database 1100 is updated. The database1100 is updated by creating a purchase terms identifier 1102corresponding to the current offer identifier 1104 and by storing thegenerated purchase terms 1106 in conjunction with the created purchaseterms identifier 1102. Next, in step 1608, the redemption database 1200is updated by generating a redemption identifier 1202 and associatingthe purchase terms identifier 1204, a product identifier 1206identifying the selected product (if any), and any transaction-specificredemption information 1208 therewith. Also associated therewith is aredemption status 1210.

FIG. 17 illustrates a flow diagram 1700 of process steps to process acustomer redemption of the selected product according to one embodimentof step 1314 of FIG. 13. The process begins at step 1702, wherein aredemption identifier is received from the customer. The redemptionidentifier may be embodied in a voucher, a personal identification code,or the like transmitted to the customer in step 1312. The redemption mayoccur at a retail store or, in a case that the product will be shippedto the customer, may be initiated by transmission of the redemptionidentifier from a customer device 220 to the retail system controller200. In a case that redemption information 1208 associated with a recordindicates that a redemption must occur at a future time, a retailer maysend a reminder to an associated customer that the future time isapproaching.

In step 1704, the redemption is analyzed to validate whether allrequirements for the transaction are satisfied. According to oneembodiment of step 1704, the received redemption identifier is used tolocate a corresponding record in the redemption database 1200 and,specifically, to locate redemption information 1208 associated with theredemption identifier. The current redemption is then analyzed in step1704 to determine whether the current redemption satisfies the detailsof the redemption information 1208. For example, it is determined instep 1704 whether the customer is picking up the product at the locationand time specified in the redemption information 1208, if any. In otherembodiments, the received redemption identifier encodes redemptioninformation such as the redemption information 1208 and the redemptionidentifier is decoded to retrieve the information used in step 1704.

It is then determined, in step 1706, whether a payment has been receivedfrom the customer. In one embodiment, this determination is made byreferring to the redemption status 1210 of the corresponding record inthe redemption database 1200. If payment has not been received from thecustomer, flow proceeds from step 1706 to step 1708 to receive paymentfrom the customer. The payment may be in any form acceptable to theretailer, such as cash, check, credit card, debit card, or the like. Ina case that the redemption is not conducted in-person, it may be easiestto receive payment by credit card. In some embodiments, payment isguaranteed with payment information in conjunction with customeracceptance of a received sale price. In this regard, the customer may becharged a penalty if he does not attempt redemption.

If the payment has been received, the customer is presented, in step1710, with the product identified by the product identifier 1206 of thecorresponding record. If the corresponding record does not include aproduct identifier 1206, the product is also selected in step 1710. Thepresentation may include handing the product to the customer or shippingthe product to the customer. In this regard, the product may be asoftware-based product which is shipped to the customer by encoding theproduct in an electrical signal and sending the signal to a customerdevice 220 over the communication network 210 using an appropriatetransmission protocol.

II. Retailer Determines a Product Description Based on a Sale Price

FIG. 18 illustrates a flow diagram 1800 of process steps of a salestransaction according to another embodiment of the present invention.Generally, the process steps differ from those illustrated in FIG. 13 inthat a sale price is received from a customer and a product descriptionis determined based on the sale price.

In more detail, a sale price is received from a customer at step 1802.The sale price may be received in any known manner, including thosespecified above with respect to step 1302 of FIG. 13. In alternativeembodiments, the sale price received in step 1802 is in the form of arange of sale prices, a percentage discount off a retail price, or adiscount amount off a retail price. A product category may also bereceived along with the sale price. For example, the data “$200” and“Standard Television” may be received in step 1802. The received saleprice may also be specified in terms of a discount, such as “$10 lessthan retail price” or “20% off retail price”, or a range of values, suchas “$400 to $425”. In one embodiment, the received sale price is storedin the offered price field 416 of the offer database 400 in associationwith an offer identifier 402 created to represent the current offer.

Next, in step 1804, a product description is determined based on thereceived sale price. In one embodiment, a database may be used whichcontains, for each product category, several ranges of sale prices and aproduct description corresponding to each range. In this embodiment,step 1804 is performed simply by identifying the range of prices inwhich the received sale price falls and obtaining the correspondingproduct description. In a variation of this embodiment, severaldescriptions may correspond to each range of sale prices.

In another embodiment, the product description database 800 is used instep 1804 to identify a rule 802 corresponding to the received saleprice. A product description is created based on the corresponding rule802, with the condition values of the product description identifyingrelated or similar values. For example, if the rule 802 calls for threemanufacturers, three low-end or three high-end manufacturers may beincluded in the created product description. Details of anotherembodiment of step 1804 will be described in conjunction with FIG. 19.

After step 1804, the product description is transmitted to a customer instep 1806. The transmission can be performed using one of the methodsdiscussed with respect to step 1306, or using other known methods. Inone embodiment, the product description is transmitted with purchaseterms which, along with a customer's agreement to the productdescription, creates a binding contract to purchase a product. Thepurchase terms may include the received sale price, the productdescription, and an offer from the retailer to sell a product conformingto the product description for the sale price. In another embodiment,the controller 200 does not transmit, in step 1806, any information tothe customer identifying a particular product to be sold to the customerbefore an agreement to purchase a product conforming to the productdescription is received. The controller 200 also does not guarantee tothe customer, before an agreement to purchase a product conforming tothe product description is received, what specific product will bepurchased. By avoiding transmission of this information, a retailer isprovided with flexibility in selecting a product to sell after thecustomer is bound to the sale.

Alternatively, two or more particular products are identified to thecustomer in step 1806 along with an indication that an unspecified oneof the particular products will be sold to the customer upon receivingan agreement from the customer. This embodiment also provides theretailer with some flexibility in selecting a product to sell after thecustomer is bound.

Next, in step 1808, it is determined whether the customer agrees topurchase a product conforming to the product description for the saleprice. Similar mechanisms to those described in conjunction with step1308 can be used to determine whether the customer has made such anagreement. If the customer does not agree, the FIG. 18 process stepsterminate. The customer may have an opportunity to resubmit the saleprice in hopes of receiving another product description, or the customermay have the option of submitting a new sale price. If the customeragrees, flow proceeds to step 1810. Steps 1810 to 1814 proceed similarlyto steps 1310 to 1314 and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted forthe sake of brevity.

According to the FIG. 18 process steps, the retailer may sell a sameproduct to two customers for two different sale prices. However, the twocustomers will likely perceive the system as fair because each isagreeing to a different sale price and product description. In addition,the retailer may determine a broad product description based on thelower sale price to give an impression that the lower sale price isavailable only because the lower-paying customer agrees to a broadproduct description. This method masks any discount reflected in thelower sale price, reduces perceived unfairness and allows a retailer tosell a product at a discounted price while minimizing price and branddilution.

FIG. 19 illustrates a flow diagram 1900 of process steps according toone embodiment of step 1804. The process steps can be used to determinea product description based on a received sale price.

First, products which conform to the sale price received in step 1802are identified by referring to the minimum acceptable prices 1012 of theproduct database 1000. Specifically, for each product of a productcategory received in step 1802, an associated minimum acceptable price1012 is compared with the received sale price. The products having anassociated minimum acceptable price 1012 less than the received saleprice are identified as conforming products in step 1902. For example,if the received sale price is $300, products P-1000 and P-1002 of FIG.10 are identified as conforming products.

In step 1904, products for which discounts are preferred are selectedfrom the identified conforming products. In one embodiment, only thoseconforming products that are selling more slowly than forecasted areselected in step 1904. These slow-selling products can be identifiedfrom the retailer database 900 as those having a current/forecastedratio 908 of less than unity. In the present example, the product havingan identifier 910 P-1000 is selected as a product for which discountsare preferred. It should be noted that more than one product may beselected in step 1904.

Of course, other methods may be used and other retailer data consideredwhen selecting preferred products to discount in step 1904. For example,it may be preferable to determine a desired price for each identifiedconforming product and to select only those products for which thedesired price is less than the received sale price.

In step 1906, a product description is created which covers the productsselected in step 1904. In one embodiment, the created productdescription includes all mutually-exclusive condition values present ineach selected product. In addition, the product description includesonly those mutually-inclusive conditions present in all selectedproducts. Using these guidelines and the data representing productidentifiers 1002 P-1000 and P-1002 in the product database 1000, aproduct description is created including the mutually-exclusivecondition values “Magnavox”, “Toshiba”, “Stamford”, “Hartford”,“Teaneck”, “New”, and “Refurbished”, and the mutually-inclusivecondition value “Picture-in-Picture”.

In step 1908, the created product description is broadened in order tomask any discount that may result from the sale of a product at the saleprice. In general, the description is broadened by removing conditionvalues for mutually-inclusive conditions and by adding condition valuesfor mutually-exclusive conditions. By broadening the productdescription, any discount will appear to be due to the customer'swillingness to accept the uncertainty presented by a flexible productdescription.

In one embodiment of step 1908, the description is broadened based on apercentage discount off a retail price reflected by the sale price. Theretail price may be a retail price of a particular product to be sold tothe customer, in a case that the particular product has been selected,an average retail price of the products selected in step 1802, oranother retail price. As shown in the FIG. 8 representation of theproduct description database 800, ranges of percentage discounts 810 andassociated description broadening rules 820 are established for aproduct category. In operation, a percentage discount is calculated, acorresponding range 810 is located in the product description database800, and description broadening rules 820 associated with the range areidentified. It is then ensured that the description created in step 1804is at least as broad as specified in the identified rules. If not,condition values are added (for mutually-exclusive conditions) and/orremoved (for mutually-inclusive conditions).

In another embodiment of step 1908, the product description database 800is organized by product rather than by product category. Accordingly, aproduct is selected to sell prior to step 1908, a percentage discountreflected by the sale price is calculated, and data in the database 800corresponding to the product is accessed to identify appropriatedescription broadening rules 820 corresponding to the percentagediscount 810.

The description may also be broadened in step 1908 to includemutually-exclusive condition values normally possessed by expensiveproducts in order to encourage the customer to agree to the productdescription. On the other hand, the product description may be broadenedto describe lower-quality items in order to give a customer agreeing tothe product description a pleasant surprise when the customer learnsthat the product to be purchased is a better-quality product.

III. Retailer Transmits Product Description and Sale Price

FIG. 20 illustrates a flow diagram 2000 of process steps of a salestransaction according to yet another embodiment of the invention. Theprocess steps are used to determine a product description and a saleprice and to transmit the product description and the sale price to acustomer.

Specifically, a product description and a sale price are determined instep 2002. In one embodiment, step 2002 occurs in response to customerinput of a product category. The product description may be determinedin step 2002 based on a manual entry or using an automated analysis ofretailer data, with the sale price being determined based on the productdescription using any of the methods described above. Alternatively, thesale price can be determined based on a manual entry or using anautomated analysis, with the product description being determined basedon the sale price as described above or by using other methods.

Next, in step 2004, the product description and sale price aretransmitted to a customer device 220 from which the product descriptionand sale price can be presented to customers. For example, the productdescription and the sale price may be transmitted to a publicly-locatedkiosk or ATM machine, where they can be presented to customersapproaching the kiosk or ATM machine for information or bankingservices. Alternatively, a retail store can include such kiosks fordisplay of information and special deals to browsing customers. Inaddition, the product description and the sale price may be transmittedto electronic price tags and presented to customers thereby.

In one embodiment, the product description and the sale price aretransmitted along with information to facilitate formation of a bindingagreement between the customer and the retailer. The information mayinclude the product description, the sale price and an offer from theretailer to sell a product conforming to the product description for thesale price. It is contemplated to avoid transmitting, before receivingan agreement to purchase a product conforming to the product descriptionfor the sale price, any information to the customer identifying aparticular product to be sold to the customer upon completion of thetransaction. It is also contemplated to avoid guaranteeing to thecustomer, before receiving an agreement to purchase a product conformingto the product description for the sale price, what specific productwill be purchased. By avoiding transmission of this information, aretailer is provided with flexibility in selecting a product to sellafter the sale is secured. In another embodiment, specific details oftwo or more particular products are also transmitted to the customer instep 2004 along with an indication that an unspecified one of theparticular products will be sold to the customer upon receiving anagreement from the customer. This embodiment also provides the retailerwith some flexibility in selecting a product to sell after a sale issecured.

Thereafter, in step 2006, it is determined whether a customer has agreedto purchase a product conforming to the product description for the saleprice. The customer can indicate agreement in any known manner,including using the customer device 220 from which the sale price andthe product description were presented to the customer. Steps 2008, 2010and 2012 proceed similarly to steps 1310, 1312 and 1314 of FIG. 13,respectively, and descriptions of these steps are therefore omitted forthe sake of brevity.

IV. Airline Ticket Embodiment

FIG. 21 illustrates a flow diagram 2100 of process steps to sell anairline ticket according to one embodiment of the present invention. Theprocess steps begin at step 2102, in which a product descriptiondescribing a desired air travel itinerary is received from a customer.The description may be submitted using any of the methods described withrespect to step 1302. The description may include one or more conditionvalues corresponding to the conditions Departure City, Departure Date,Departure Time, Arrival City, Arrival Date, Arrival Time, Airline,Class, or the like. In one embodiment, the condition values arespecified in terms of a range, such as a Departure Time condition valueof “1:00 pm to 4:00 pm”.

In step 2104, the retail system controller 200 determines a sale pricecorresponding to the product description. The sale price may bedetermined based on any of the methods discussed with respect to step1304, or using other methods. The sale price is then transmitted to thecustomer in step 2106. In one embodiment, also transmitted in step 2106is an agreement from the retailer to sell, for the sale price, anairline ticket for flights that conform to the product description.

Next, in step 2108, an agreement is received from the customer topurchase an airline ticket for flights conforming to the productdescription for the sale price. In one embodiment, the controller 200does not transmit, before an agreement to purchase an airline ticket forthe sale price is received, any information to the customer identifyinga particular flight on which the purchased airline ticket will allow thecustomer to travel. The customer is also not guaranteed, before anagreement to purchase an airline ticket for the sale price is received,to what specific flight or flights the airline ticket corresponds. Byavoiding transmission of this information, a retailer is provided withflexibility in selecting an airline ticket to sell after the customer isbound to the agreement. However, in another embodiment, specific detailsof two or more particular flights are transmitted to the customer instep 2108 along with an indication that the airline ticket that will besold will allow the customer to travel on an unspecified one or more ofthe particular flights. This embodiment also provides the retailer withsome flexibility in selecting a ticket to sell after the customer isbound.

An airline ticket for flights conforming to the product description isselected in step 2110. In one embodiment, the selection of the airlineticket and flights is delayed so as to give the retailer an opportunityto determine what flights will not sell out and to bind the customer tothose low-demand flights. After step 2110, the identity of the selectedflights is transmitted to the customer in step 2112.

It should be noted that the airline ticket may be selected at any timeafter the product description is received in step 2102. It should alsobe noted that the alternative arrangements discussed in sections I. toIII. may be incorporated, where appropriate, to the steps of FIG. 21.

Additional Embodiments

The following are several examples that illustrate additionalembodiments of the present invention. These examples do not constitute adefinition of all possible embodiments, and those skilled in the artwill understand that the present invention is applicable to many otherembodiments. Further, although the following examples are brieflydescribed for clarity, those skilled in the art will understand how tomake any changes, if necessary, to the above-described embodiments toaccommodate these and other embodiments and applications.

According to an additional embodiment, a customer-input productdescription includes condition values weighted or ranked in order ofpreference. The condition values may be weighted by assignment of adollar amount to each condition value, or by using “slider” bars of agraphical user interface to indicate an amount of preference. Thecondition values in such a product description therefore do not reflectabsolute requirements of a conforming product, but guidelines forselecting a product. Accordingly, such a product description providessignificant flexibility to a retailer in selecting a product to sell.The retailer may be willing to provide a deep discount in exchange forthis flexibility.

In another embodiment, the customer is bound to the transaction for aspecified period but the retailer is not. Accordingly, once the customerhas accepted a sale price/product description, the retailer can chooseto sell a conforming product to a customer at any time within thespecified period. The retailer may also choose not to sell a product tothe customer during the specified period, based on inventory, demandfrom other buyers, competitors' prices, or other factors. Again, theretailer may be willing to offer a substantial discount in exchange forthe flexibility provided by such an arrangement.

As mentioned above, the present invention advantageously allows aretailer to collect data regarding condition values desired bycustomers. Therefore, in one embodiment, the retailer system controller200 includes an optimization program that orders or reorders inventorytailored to the collected data. Such a program could, for example,identify the most-commonly desired condition values and order productsthat conform to those condition values. In identifying the most-commonlydesired condition values, the optimization program can give more weightto the condition values of received product descriptions which result ina sale, as opposed to condition values of received product descriptionswhich do not result in a sale.

The collected data may also be used to determine a perceived value ofvarious condition values. The perceived values may be used in caseswhere the retailer cannot satisfy a received product condition byreplacing unsatisfiable condition values with satisfiable conditionvalues having similar perceived values.

The retail system controller 200 may also include a list of preferredproducts to sell. In a case that a listed product conforms to a receivedproduct description, a retailer may be willing to transmit a discountedsale price. On the other hand, if no listed products conform to thereceived product description, the retailer may transmit suggestedchanges to the product description so as to persuade the customer tosubmit a product description to which a listed product conforms.

In another embodiment, the retail system controller 200 considers thetransaction history of a customer from whom a product description/saleprice was received during determination of a sale price/productdescription based on the received description/price. For example, afirst-time customer may be presented with a substantial discount or anarrow product description in order to retain the customer. The retailsystem controller 200 may also consider other customer activities duringdetermination of a sale price/product description. In this regard, acustomer may “earn” additional flexibility points, price discounts or anarrower product description by filling out a surveyor by providingadditional product descriptions during the sales transaction. Forexample, a first customer who submits a product description and agreesto complete a survey receives a lower sale price than a second customerwho submits an identical product description and does not agree tocomplete the survey. The lower sale price may be determined by using amore favorable flexibility database 600 and/or product pricing database700 for the first customer than the second customer. Similarly, a firstcustomer who submits a sale price and agrees to complete a surveyreceives a narrower product description than a second customer whosubmits an identical sale price and does not agree to complete thesurvey. This latter scenario may he implemented by using a morefavorable product description database 800 for the first customer.

In responding to reception of a product description from a customer, theretailer may present alternatives that foresee the customer's response.For example, the retailer may present a customer with a low price and aproduct description which conforms closely, but not exactly, to thereceived product description, with a high price and a productdescription having more desirable mutually-inclusive condition valuesthan the received product description, and, with the received productdescription, a price between the high price and the low price. Such anapproach increases a likelihood that an agreement will be reached, andprovides the retailer with an opportunity to move undesirable productsor to generate greater profit. This approach may also be incorporatedinto embodiments in which a sale price is received from a customer.

While the present invention has been described above with respect toseveral embodiments, the scope of the invention is not deemed limited tothe above embodiments. Rather, the present invention covers allembodiments falling within the scope and spirit of the following claimsas well as equivalent arrangements thereof.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for redemption processing, theapparatus comprising: a communication port configured to receive aredemption identifier from a customer device via a communicationnetwork, the redemption identifier including encoded information; and aprocessor coupled to the communication port, wherein the apparatus isconfigured to cause the processor to automatically decode the encodedinformation in response to receiving the redemption identifier, whereindecoding the encoded information produces redemption information relatedto a request to redeem a product or service and an indication of aretailer that received the request to redeem the product or service;automatically query a redemption database to locate a correspondingrecord in the redemption database, wherein the corresponding record inthe redemption database identifies a location of the retailer and aredemption time at which the retailer received the request to redeem theproduct or service; automatically analyze whether the redemptionidentifier comprises a validated redemption identifier based at least inpart on a comparison of a location identified in the redemptioninformation with the location of the retailer identified by thecorresponding record in the redemption database, and a comparison of anoperative time identified in the redemption information with theredemption time at which the retailer received the request to redeem theproduct or service, wherein the redemption time is identified by thecorresponding record in the redemption database, and automaticallygenerate an indication of the determined validity, wherein theindication of the determined validity authorizes the retailer thatreceived the request to redeem the product or service to accept theredemption identifier as payment for at least a portion of a purchaseprice of a product or service in an instance in which the indication ofthe determined validity indicates that the redemption identifier isvalid.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the communication port isfurther configured to receive a product description from a user, whereinthe product description comprises one or more of productcharacteristics, service characteristics, category information orretailer information, wherein the apparatus is further configured tocause displaying of one or more retailers that have one or more productsor services that correspond to the received product description, andwherein the apparatus is further configured to cause displaying of theone or more retailers with a current price for a redemption identifierembodied in at least one of a voucher, a personal identification code ora frequent shopper card.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein theapparatus is further configured to cause the communication port totransmit redemption information in an instance in which a product orservice of the one or more products or services is selected, wherein theredemption information is redeemable towards at least a portion of thepurchase price of the product or service.
 4. The apparatus of claim3,wherein the apparatus is further configured to cause the processor to:generate the current price for the one or more products or servicesdynamically based at least in part on the received product descriptionand at least one of inventory, demand, sales or subsidies.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 4, wherein the apparatus is further configured tocause the processor to determine that a current transaction satisfiesone or more redemption parameters.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe apparatus is further configured to cause the processor to: determinean additional payment amount for the product or service in conjunctionwith the use of the redemption identifier; and cause a request forpayment to be transmitted.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theredemption information further comprises an identification of a productor service.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the redemptionidentifier is embodied in at least one of a voucher, a personalidentification code or a frequent shopper card.
 9. A method forredemption processing comprising: receiving, by a communication port, anindication of a redemption identifier from a customer device via acommunication network, the redemption identifier including encodedinformation; automatically decoding, by a processor, the encodedinformation in response to receiving the redemption identifier, whereindecoding the encoded information produces redemption information relatedto a request to redeem a product or service and an indication of aretailer that received the request to redeem the product or service;automatically querying, by the processor, a redemption database tolocate a corresponding record in the redemption database, wherein thecorresponding record in the redemption database identifies a location ofthe retailer and a redemption time at which the retailer received therequest to redeem the product or service; automatically analyzing, bythe processor, whether the redemption identifier comprises a validatedredemption identifier based at least in part on a comparison of alocation identified in the redemption information with the location ofthe retailer identified by the corresponding record in the redemptiondatabase, and a comparison of an operative time identified in theredemption information with the redemption time at which the retailerreceived the request to redeem the product or service, wherein theredemption time is identified by the corresponding record in theredemption database; and automatically generating, by the processor, anindication of the determined validity, wherein the indication of thedetermined validity authorizes the retailer that received the request toredeem the product or service to accept the redemption identifier aspayment for at least a portion of a purchase price of a product orservice in an instance in which the indication of the determinedvalidity indicates that the redemption identifier is valid.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: receiving, by the communicationport, a product description from a user, wherein the product descriptioncomprises one or more of product characteristics, servicecharacteristics, category information or retailer information, andcausing display of one or more retailers that have one or more productsor services that correspond to the received product description, whereincausing display of the one or more retailers includes causing display ofa current price for a redemption identifier embodied in at least one ofa voucher, a personal identification code or a frequent shopper card.11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: transmitting, by thecommunication port, redemption information in an instance in which aproduct or service of the one or more products or services is selected,wherein the redemption information is redeemable towards at least aportion of the purchase price of the product or service.
 12. The methodof claim 11, further comprising: generating, by the processor, thecurrent price for the one or more products or services dynamically basedat least in part on the received product description and at least one ofinventory, demand, sales or subsidies.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12,further comprising: determining, by the processor, that a currenttransaction satisfies one or more redemption parameters.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 9, further comprising: determining, by the processor,an additional payment amount for the product or service in conjunctionwith the use of the redemption identifier; and causing a request forpayment to be transmitted.
 15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein theredemption information further comprises an identification of a productor service.
 16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the redemptionidentifier is embodied in at least one of a voucher, a personalidentification code or a frequent shopper card.
 17. An apparatus forredemption processing comprising: means for receiving an indication of aredemption identifier from a customer device via a communicationnetwork, the redemption identifier including encoded information; meansfor automatically decoding the encoded information in response toreceiving the redemption identifier, wherein decoding the encodedinformation produces redemption information related to a request toredeem a product or service and an indication of a retailer thatreceived the request to redeem the product or service; means forautomatically querying a redemption database to locate a correspondingrecord in the redemption database, wherein the corresponding record inthe redemption database identifies a location of the retailer and aredemption time at which the retailer received the request to redeem theproduct or service; means for automatically analyzing whether theredemption identifier comprises a validated redemption identifier basedat least in part on a comparison of a location identified in theredemption information with the location of the retailer identified bythe corresponding record in the redemption database, and a comparison ofan operative time identified in the redemption information with theredemption time at which the retailer received the request to redeem theproduct or service, wherein the redemption time is identified by thecorresponding record in the redemption database; and means forautomatically generating an indication of the determined validity,wherein the indication of the determined validity authorizes theretailer that received the request to redeem the product or service toaccept the redemption identifier as payment for at least a portion of apurchase price of a product or service in an instance in which theindication of the determined validity indicates that the redemptionidentifier is valid.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:means for receiving a product description from a user, wherein theproduct description comprises one or more of product characteristics,service characteristics, category information or retailer information;means for displaying one or more retailers that have one or moreproducts or services that correspond to the received productdescription, wherein the one or more retailers are displayed with acurrent price for a redemption identifier embodied in at least one of avoucher, a personal identification code or a frequent shopper card;means for causing redemption information to be transmitted in aninstance in which a product or service of the one or more products orservices is selected, wherein the redemption information is redeemabletowards at least a portion of the purchase price of the product orservice.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising: means forgenerating the current price for the one or more products or services,wherein the current price is dynamically set based at least in part onthe received product description and at least one of inventory, demand,sales or subsidies.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:means for determining an additional payment amount for the product orservice in conjunction with the use of the redemption identifier; andmeans for causing a request for payment to be transmitted.